Member states agree on general principles of future EU energy policy

EU energy ministers agreed on 18 December on four so-called general principles in search of a consensus on three crucial energy laws. The laws on the regulation of the common electricity market, on renewable energy and on governance can be considered a precursor to an energy union.

The EU member states thus reached a consensus before the negotiations with the European Commission and Parliament, which are scheduled for next year. The Energy Union project has been on the table since 2010 when Jacques Delors introduced the first European Energy Community plan. The Energy Union is based on five principles: security of supply, completing the internal energy market, increasing energy efficiency, low-carbon economy, and research and innovation in energy. The project is ambitious, mainly due to the collision of the liberal market economy with the strategic approach of national states who perceive energy as a subject of state interest. The steps taken to increase energy security are thus limited to the national level, not to the European one, which is an issue for discussion in the years to come.